About Me

About Me:

      Welcome to my blog! I'm so happy that you stumbled upon me somehow.  Since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I will tell you about myself through them.  :)

My Family:

Here is a picture of my family!  I'm the proud wife to a miner, and step mom to a wonderful 9 year old girl.  If you can't tell by the girl's mischievous smile, we're a little odd but good humored. 

My husband and I are total nerds.  We love to duckface it up every now and then.  There we are on my fav. holiday: Nevada Day!   You should ask me about it sometime! :)

My Love for Batman!

I'm a big batman fan.  He's a huge part of my classroom.  That's batty batman on my head, he's my classroom mascot. (I have no clue how he got up there)

My furry family!

This is Luke Skywalker.  I rescued him from a local pound.  Can you believe that he went through 3 families before finding me?!  He's the best $30 I've ever spent.

well maybe...

Here's his bro...

This is Obi Wan.  I found him as a puppy to be Luke's companion.  Unfortunately, I think it's the other way around as he greatly bugs his big brother.

Obi as a pup was the cutest thing on Earth!  Look at those green eyes!!

This is how I spend most meals...

Travel Love!

We love traveling to Disney.. mainly for the nerdy Star Wars stuff!  We rode Star Tours at least 10 times that day!

I'm a total tree lover!  I'm happiest in a lush green forest!

I can't help stopping at toy stores on my travels!

We go to Seattle often!

I am a National Park Junky!  So Far I've been to: Yellowstone, Yosemite, The Grand Tetons, The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Rocky Mountain National Park, Crater Lake, Lassen Volcanic, Badlands, Canyonlands, and most recently Olympic National Park (the picture above wasn't even photoshopped, can you believe that green?!)

My Teaching Career Story:

  My teaching career hasn't been the smoothest journey.  First of all, I majored in business finance in college.  I graduated just 6 months after the 9/11 tragedies, and it was extremely difficult finding a serious job.  Over the next 10 years, I flopped around several career paths.  I co-owned and managed an espresso shop in a hospital, worked as a dog washer, started an ebay business, worked in sales and customer service, and managed group homes for disabled adults.  Nothing struck my passion chord until a friend recommended I become a teacher.

   The thought seemed crazy at first as I'm not one of those girls who ooohhs and ahhhs at little babies or was a self proclaimed "I just LOOOOOVE kids!!!!" kind of gal.  The more I thought about it though, the more it made sense.

These were some of the things that drove me into teaching:

I love creating new things!

 I love teaching people!

I feel validated when someone learns something from me!

I have a good sense of humor.

I like variety to my day.

I enjoy helping people help themselves.

I like to share my quirky and whimsical knowledge with people.

I'm a good story teller.

I'm animated and goofy (with those that I know).

I like jobs that let me take vacations. :)

I like being in charge of my environment.

I'm an only child and I've been called "bossy". 

   My first day of teaching school (graduate school if you want to be sassy about it), I was hooked!  I went to a college that focused on teaching strategies not just theories. Everything was hands on and engaging.  The professors there taught us the way they liked to teach and be taught.  It was amazing.  It took me three years, but I finally earned my K-8 license in 2011.  I student taught in 5th grade, and it took me over a year to find a full time teaching gig.

   The first year of teaching was rough!!!  I taught multiple grades in a town far away from my home. I had a long commute, and a challenging class that included 5 sets of siblings!!!   I made a lot of mistakes, and I didn't feel successful at all.  Many days I left work crying and my life felt engulfed with negativity.  I second guessed becoming a teacher.  

     I finished out my first year, and left my very first classroom knowing I wouldn't go back to it.  While looking for a different job that summer, I was offered a teaching job at a different school.  I decided to give teaching one more chance, and I'm happy that I did.  My new school and principal was amazing.  My 2nd year of teaching rocked.  My 3rd year was stressful, but I learned a lot.  Now, I'm going into my 4th year, and I've gained an artillery of interesting lessons and strategies that could help me through any situation.  I'm in a good place right now.  I'm pleased that I've stuck with the profession.  I hope to someday design curriculum full time and teach other teachers to persevere and make their classrooms engaging places to be in.  It's my dream to help teachers have fun with teaching by bringing highly engaging lessons to students.

Thanks again for stopping by and feel free to drop me a line any time for any reason!  :)